Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.

I'm not sure how pervasive the Spanish influence was in the Philippines outside Manila.etc though.

I'm sure you've heard of Cebu. It is the bastion and heart of Visayan culture (which is the pride of our forummer, ejay :P), and it was the place where the Spanish began their colonization of the archipelago after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Cebu was the first capital of the Spanish East Indies before the Spaniards moved their administration to Manila. Hence, Cebu has a very strong Spanish heritage, with old Spanish fortresses and grand Spanish cathedrals. And being a Visayan cultural heartland, all those regions inhabited by Visayan peoples (which includes all of the Visayas and most of Mindanao) are Hispanicized through and through.

I'm sure you've heard of Cebu. It is the bastion and heart of Visayan culture (which is the pride of our forummer, ejay :P), and it was the place where the Spanish began their colonization of the archipelago after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Cebu was the first capital of the Spanish East Indies before the Spaniards moved their administration to Manila. Hence, Cebu has a very strong Spanish heritage, with old Spanish fortresses and grand Spanish cathedrals. And being a Visayan cultural heartland, all those regions inhabited by Visayan peoples (which includes all of the Visayas and most of Mindanao) are Hispanicized through and through.

not really....western visayan is still very malay/seasian.....many of the folklores and legends of pre-colonial philippines passed down through generations comes from western visayas

This all depends on what you define as socially/culturally Western. Just want to confirm then, aside from speaking more English, what makes Singapore more socially/culturally Western than Hong Kong?

The Philippines is a fusion of Malay/Indonesian, Spanish and American cultures, with some Chinese influence as well. The Philippines is indeed a conservative country, conservative defined the same way as the US political term. Out of the minorities in the US, the Filipino-Americans are most likely to vote Republican. But then we can't say Americans who vote Republican are not Western.

If we're just talking about names though, almost everyone in the Philippines has a Western name. Most have Spanish surnames. Most of the older ones have Spanish first names like Pedro, Jose and Maria. The younger ones have American names like Peter, Joseph and Mary. The recent trend is to have dual names like Mark Anthony or Mary Ann. First names which are of Philippine origin, like Bayani and Ligaya, are uncommon, especially among the young.

I'm sure you've heard of Cebu. It is the bastion and heart of Visayan culture (which is the pride of our forummer, ejay :P), and it was the place where the Spanish began their colonization of the archipelago after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Cebu was the first capital of the Spanish East Indies before the Spaniards moved their administration to Manila. Hence, Cebu has a very strong Spanish heritage, with old Spanish fortresses and grand Spanish cathedrals. And being a Visayan cultural heartland, all those regions inhabited by Visayan peoples (which includes all of the Visayas and most of Mindanao) are Hispanicized through and through.

I think the urbanization and economic status will define the degree of Westernization in the Philippines nowadays more than the region itself. I do find it odd that Zamboanga City is where the Spanish creole survived but Filipinos don't think of the place as more Hispanic but rather as more Muslim because it is one of the larger cities with a higher percentage of Muslims.

The Visayan languages do seem to have more Spanish loanwords compared to Tagalog, but the difference is not that high.

Actually the pride of ejay1 is Iloilo City rather than Cebu. A little known fact is Iloilo City was actually a larger city than Cebu at the end of the Spanish regime. Cebu City is larger now. Anyway, don't see much difference in degree of Hispanization these days, and you're right that Manila is certainly not much more Hispanic compared to the rest.

This all depends on what you define as socially/culturally Western. Just want to confirm then, aside from speaking more English, what makes Singapore more socially/culturally Western than Hong Kong?

The Philippines is a fusion of Malay/Indonesian, Spanish and American cultures, with some Chinese influence as well. The Philippines is indeed a conservative country, conservative defined the same way as the US political term. Out of the minorities in the US, the Filipino-Americans are most likely to vote Republican. But then we can't say Americans who vote Republican are not Western.

If we're just talking about names though, almost everyone in the Philippines has a Western name. Most have Spanish surnames. Most of the older ones have Spanish first names like Pedro, Jose and Maria. The younger ones have American names like Peter, Joseph and Mary. The recent trend is to have dual names like Mark Anthony or Mary Ann. First names which are of Philippine origin, like Bayani and Ligaya, are uncommon, especially among the young.

I wonder why so many Filipinos have Spanish names...it could be the length of time they were colonised, did the Spaniards just give them the names? Did they even have last names prior to that in their local language? In terms of colonial nations, it seems only when most of the population were settlers from Europe did most of the populace have European last names, e.g. Latin America. India, Africa, Malaya.etc all mostly maintained their native last names.

I wonder why so many Filipinos have Spanish names...it could be the length of time they were colonised, did the Spaniards just give them the names? Did they even have last names prior to that in their local language? In terms of colonial nations, it seems only when most of the population were settlers from Europe did most of the populace have European last names, e.g. Latin America. India, Africa, Malaya.etc all mostly maintained their native last names.

The Spaniards required everyone to have surnames. Most Filipinos did not have surnames during that time, so the Spaniards assigned Spanish surnames to them. To make it easier for the colonizers, people in some small towns were allowed to choose from surnames starting only with a particular letter. To this day, natives of some isolated towns still can tell that your family is from there because everyone whose family had been there since the colonial times had surnames starting with "F", for example.

Catholics during the Spanish era were also required to have Christian names (mostly from names of saints or from the Bible). Those who were baptized later also had their names changed. The first Catholic to be baptized was the wife of the ruler of Cebu, and she was known as Queen Juana from then on.

I think the urbanization and economic status will define the degree of Westernization in the Philippines nowadays more than the region itself. I do find it odd that Zamboanga City is where the Spanish creole survived but Filipinos don't think of the place as more Hispanic but rather as more Muslim because it is one of the larger cities with a higher percentage of Muslims.

The Visayan languages do seem to have more Spanish loanwords compared to Tagalog, but the difference is not that high.

Actually the pride of ejay1 is Iloilo City rather than Cebu. A little known fact is Iloilo City was actually a larger city than Cebu at the end of the Spanish regime. Cebu City is larger now. Anyway, don't see much difference in degree of Hispanization these days, and you're right that Manila is certainly not much more Hispanic compared to the rest.

I do have the impression that Zamboanga is more Muslim despite it having a Catholic majority. I think its proximity to Muslim heartlands is one of the factors. The first time I learned about Zamboanga was from a book on countries of the world where they showed one picture of a Muslim praying alone in a mosque in Zamboanga.

As for ejay, I was actually referring to his pride in Visayan culture and race rather than his city or Cebu. I have almost zero knowledge about Iloilo so I couldn't make any comment on that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenTiger

The Spaniards required everyone to have surnames. Most Filipinos did not have surnames during that time, so the Spaniards assigned Spanish surnames to them. To make it easier for the colonizers, people in some small towns were allowed to choose from surnames starting only with a particular letter. To this day, natives of some isolated towns still can tell that your family is from there because everyone whose family had been there since the colonial times had surnames starting with "F", for example.

Catholics during the Spanish era were also required to have Christian names (mostly from names of saints or from the Bible). Those who were baptized later also had their names changed. The first Catholic to be baptized was the wife of the ruler of Cebu, and she was known as Queen Juana from then on.

I find it very interesting that even the Chinese who came during the Spanish era have had their family names Hispanicized, like Ko/Khor/Koh/Co 许 became Pempengco etc, just like what the Chinese Indonesians went through during the Suharto era where their names were required to be Indonesianized.

I do have the impression that Zamboanga is more Muslim despite it having a Catholic majority. I think its proximity to Muslim heartlands is one of the factors. The first time I learned about Zamboanga was from a book on countries of the world where they showed one picture of a Muslim praying alone in a mosque in Zamboanga.

As for ejay, I was actually referring to his pride in Visayan culture and race rather than his city or Cebu. I have almost zero knowledge about Iloilo so I couldn't make any comment on that.

I find it very interesting that even the Chinese who came during the Spanish era have had their family names Hispanicized, like Ko/Khor/Koh/Co 许 became Pempengco etc, just like what the Chinese Indonesians went through during the Suharto era where their names were required to be Indonesianized.

you should come visit iloilo sometime...we are very chinese friendly town

I do have the impression that Zamboanga is more Muslim despite it having a Catholic majority. I think its proximity to Muslim heartlands is one of the factors. The first time I learned about Zamboanga was from a book on countries of the world where they showed one picture of a Muslim praying alone in a mosque in Zamboanga.

As for ejay, I was actually referring to his pride in Visayan culture and race rather than his city or Cebu. I have almost zero knowledge about Iloilo so I couldn't make any comment on that.

I find it very interesting that even the Chinese who came during the Spanish era have had their family names Hispanicized, like Ko/Khor/Koh/Co 许 became Pempengco etc, just like what the Chinese Indonesians went through during the Suharto era where their names were required to be Indonesianized.

Dizon is actually a chinese-filipino name as well..though many of the people who hold that name look mexican

you should come visit iloilo sometime...we are very chinese friendly town

Perhaps will make it a side trip if I ever visit Boracay. Would love to see the Miagao Church.

Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.